Mass Effect: Dominic's Story
by Ryder500
Summary: My version of the events that occur after the defeat of the Reapers. Follow Dominic Shepard as he recovers from his ordeal on the Citadel and catches up with friends. The universe is not yet finished with Shepard!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is my first attempt at writing some fan fic, so I am really happy to receive any criticism and feedback. **

**I am planning to write a few chapters for this story really to just give a version of Shepard's life after the defeat of the Reapers, pretty much him settling down and attending to his future with his friends and lover.**

**Chapter One**

Shepard's eyes opened slowly, blinking several times so that his eyes could adjust to the darkness of the room. The pain hit him suddenly, a vicious searing sensation all over his body, through his bones coupled with a tingling sensation running up his spine. His body screamed in agony as he turned his head to the side, taking in the room around him. Medical equipment, needles, blood transfusion packs. -Must be a hospital then- he thought to himself, and then he remembered…

His entire life, his struggle, the fight for all life; all culminating in that single decision on the Citadel. The destruction of all synthetics, the destruction of the Reapers. That one decision. He was fully prepared to make the sacrifice, it was almost… fitting. One life in exchange for the survival of all organic life. It was the ultimate sacrifice and Shepard was more than willing to pay it.

That moment, the moment when the conduit exploded into a torrent of pure energy, he was fully at peace as he just let go and let the energy of the explosion carry him. Images had flown before his eyes, those that had been there for him and who had fought at his side for all this time; Joker, always having a laugh but serious underneath, Anderson, the man who was like a father to him, his mentor, Garrus, his best friend, a friend who he loved like a brother, and Tali… that Quarian who he had come to love so damn much. He would never have thought that someone would be able to fill that void left by his parent's deaths so long ago, but she had come along and changed everything. It had broken his heart, but at the same time it had been what fueled him in those last minutes, knowing that he was giving her a future through the decision he had made.

And then the darkness had taken him completely.

-I… I… I'm a-alive-, he thought to himself, stumbling over the words in his mind. -How the fuck am I still al…- his thoughts were quickly cut off by a sharp pain in his gut, hitting him like a head-butt from a Krogan. -I feel like a fucking train wreck- he thought as more sharp pains shot through his body as he tried to lift his arm. Despite his pain, a smile crept across his face as he realised the scale of his situation. He was alive and the Reapers were gone. This was more than anything he could have hoped for. But there was still a thought, tugging at his mind, something that he knew he should be aware of; something very bloody important.

He turned his head to the left and in the darkness of the room he could make out the outline of something along the wall of the room. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted once again to the darkness until he could make out what looked like a stretcher-like, drop down bed, – No it's definitely a bed – and lying on that bed he could make out a humanoid form with its back faced towards him. – Who is tha… - his mind cut itself off as realisation came to him suddenly and a wave of relief and pure joy washed over him as the word formed on his lips. Tali…

He just lay there, taking in the sight of her form. From her cute little chicken legs, –Shit, I better keep that to myself or there will be hell to pay– he thought to himself with a grin on his face, to the arch in her back as she slept and finally to the back of her head where the beautiful patterns of her decorative clothing brought another grin to his face. But also, as he tilted his head a fraction closer he could hear a sound. Another smile found its way onto his face as he listened to the sound of her soft breathing coming through her filter.

Shepard fell back onto his back in his bed as tears began to suddenly pour from his eyes and instantly forgetting the strong pain coursing through his body, he began to laugh; a sound of pure happiness as the tears dropped off his face onto the cloth of his bed sheets. He sounded a strong and hearty laugh, one of the laughs his crew on the Normandy knew him so well for, he cried as he laughed, letting everything go, letting pure emotion take control of him as he was finally able to let go of the feelings of suffering, death, despair and hopelessness and finally grasp onto hope and the thought of life and a future.

"She… S-Shepard?" The voice made him turn his head to the left once again, and the sight he saw was as if he was only seeing her for the first time again. She moved forward apprehensively at first and then…

"Shepard!" Tali yelled as she bounded the rest of the way to Shepard's side, throwing her arms around his body and burying her head into his shoulder. Shepard gave off a few grunts of pain as she came crashing down upon him. He was about to voice some protest about the pain, but he decided against it when he noticed just how happy she was in that moment.

"Ouch, the Reapers gave me enough of a beating, now I got a strange Quarian trying to beat me up" Shepard said through a grin, his laughter dying down now, his eyes still watery from his tears.

"I-I, the doctors said that it was a miracle that you were still breathing, that you might never wake up. Oh Keelah Dominic, I thought… I thought that you might not ever wake up." Tali whispered through soft sobs, "I thought that I had lost you."

"I am here Tali, I am here now and I will never leave you again, not this life or the next. I... Oh god it feels so good to hold you again, you are so beautiful." Shepard replied as he stroked the back of Tali's head. "You told me before I stormed the beam that you wanted more time. I am yours again, you have all the time you need now Tali."

"Dominic… When you entered that beam and your coms cut out… I couldn't stop crying… I felt lost, I felt so alone." Tali shuddered as she lowered her head.

"Hey. Hey, it's ok Tali." Shepard said as he cupped Tali's chin with his hand and lifted her head, looking into her eyes. "You were all I could think about before the darkness took me on the Citadel, shit, I really should have said it before when I had the chance. Shepard looked down, but after a long pause he looked back into her eyes.

"I love you Tali."

Tali then swung her leg over Shepard's body so that she was sitting over him and brought her hands too each side of her mask, sounding the audible "click" noise as she removed her mask from her face, hastily casting it aside once it was fully removed from her face. She came down slowly until finally her lips touched against Shepard's and she kissed him deeply, a kiss full of love and passion, desire and lust. Shepard no longer had any reason to be running, he was finally all hers, bound to nothing but their future.

"I love you Dominic."


	2. Chapter 2

**There we go guys. I tried to make this one longer than the last one! I'm going to try and make sure that each chapter has at least 2000 words minimum from now on.**

**As I said before, this story is to give a version of Shepard's life after the defeat of the Reapers. So what I write has no real relevance to cannon or whatever, I'm just making stuff up. **

**I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter Two**

Shepard awoke abruptly, wincing as the pains shot through his broken body. He quickly looked around the room to gather his bearings, having a mild panic attack as he remembered where he was. After a few moments, he rested his head back onto his pillow, content with his location. A quiet yawn caused Shepard to remember that he wasn't alone. A smile crept up onto his face as he gazed upon Tali sleeping with him, holding onto him tightly, protectively. He softly stroked her back as he thought about what he was going to do with this Quarian in terms of their future, causing a low moan to pass through her filter. Shepard sighed as he realised that Hackett will most probably not let him get on with his life anytime soon, even despite how much Hackett respected Shepard. He will want a full debriefing of what happened on the Citadel, -probably every fucker in charge will want a bloody debriefing- he thought to himself, and Hackett will most probably want to use him as the symbol of unity in the following months as the entirety of Hammer, what was left of it anyway, was stranded in the Sol system. –It's going to a long few months- he thought as he sighed again.

With the betrayal and death of Councilor Udina back on the Citadel, a lot of pressure and expectations had fallen onto Hackett's shoulders. His firm and decisive leadership of humanities fleets and leadership over the alliance joint fleets during the final assault had earned him in the eyes of humanity the position of being best possible representative of the human people. Humanities role in the final battle may have even finally cemented humanities spot in the galactic stage and removed the stigma surrounding the human people. –Hell, I've made a job of saving this galaxies fucking ass, so that sure as hell should count for something- Shepard thought to himself, smirking at the thought of humanity being the ones to ultimately rally the galactic races together in the end when the other galactic races looked down on humanity as a sub-par race. –Hackett will be a bloody good leader- he thought to himself with a satisfied smile.

Shepard quickly snapped out of his deep thought trance and turned his attention back to Tali. He snuggled himself closer to Tali and wrapped his arms around her body, hugging her tightly. His motions caused Tali to stir and awake. She yawned softly and quickly looked around the room and then finally to Shepard, as if she were making sure that it wasn't all a dream.

"Oh hey Dominic, did you sleep well?" she said sleepily, stretching her arms out, "That pull down bed wasn't that comfortable so I thought that I would just stay next to you… I hope you didn't mind?"

"Sorry Tali, I didn't mean to wake you, and yes I did sleep well… very well in fact thanks to a certain someone." Shepard said through a grin, also stretching his arms, only to quickly drop them again as pains shot through them. Shepard let out a sharp gasp as a particularly harsh bout of pain swept through his body.

"Keelah Dominic, stop moving so much, you are going to hurt yourself more. I want you to be strong and healthy again, not turn into a cripple because you thought the big mighty Shepard was too big and mighty too rest in his bed." Tali said in a half-mocking, half-serious tone as she stroked his chest, taking extra care to be as gentle as possible so she didn't cause any unnecessary pain to the man she loved, "and besides, it's kind of fun being able to bully the savior of the universe!" she added, softly prodding Shepard in the ribs and then letting off an evil laugh.

"Is that right?" Shepard replied through a laugh as he shifted his body over, ignoring the sudden influx of pain, pushing Tali off the bed, causing her to let off a high pitched squeal as she tumbled off the bed. Shepard sounded another hearty laugh and then braced himself for the inevitable retribution he was about to face as Tali got back up onto her feet.

"You giant bosh'tet!" Tali exclaimed as she quickly moved back to Shepard's side, prodding him in the ribs a little bit harder this time. "Do you _really_ think that you will get away with that Dominic?"

"Ouch Tali, that really hurt!" replied Shepard as he made a dramatic show of rubbing his ribs and putting on a sad face, whilst making exaggerated sobbing sounds.

"I'm not falling for your usual tactics this time Dominic!" Tali responded as she once again prodded Shepard in the ribs, causing him to laugh this time and instead of resuming his dramatic show he shot his arms out and grabbed Tali by the waist. Tali made a show of trying to escape his grasp, but then she let Shepard pull her in towards him and they embraced warmly, giggling at the little escapade that just took place between them.

* * *

><p>They had been laying together for a couple of hours, simply cuddling each other and talking softly together when suddenly the door swung open and a grinning Taurian came striding into the room.<p>

"Well look who decided to finally wake up you lazy bastard!" Garrus boomed as he marched towards Shepard, "and it looks like the prince has found his princess. We can all live happily ever after now!' he added, winking towards Tali. Tali face palmed, rolling her eyes behind her mask at Garrus's words.

"Don't worry about knocking or anything you prick Garrus!" Shepard retorted in a joking tone, "with a head like that mate, I wouldn't be barging through any doors, you would give anyone who didn't know you a bloody scare," continued Shepard, grinning broadly.

"Kind words for your best buddy there Shepard," Garrus replied as he clasped Shepard's arm, "it's good to see you up and awake, how are you holding up?" added Garrus, much more serious now, a genuine look of concern crossing his face as he looked towards Shepard and then to Tali, who was sitting up next to Shepard, tightly holding his other hand.

"It's damn good to see that you've pulled through as well Garrus. I'm holding up pretty well, just I feel like absolute shit, I can't move without bloody pains," Shepard replied as he clasped Garrus's arm back, "I'm doing fine," he added and then he gazed towards Tali, "we're doing fine."

"I just can't believe that it's all finally over…" said Tali in an exhausted voice, "we have nothing to worry about anymore, our fates are finally ours and ours only to decide."

"All my life I have been fighting the Reapers. Now I just don't know what to do… I-I've been a soldier my entire life…" Shepard said through a sigh as Tali gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, "I can finally get on with my life."

"We all can now Shepard, we all can, and it's all thanks to you. Without you, it would have been a completely different story today, hell I don't think we would have even made it this far," said Garrus, content with his words, "I owe you a round or two Shepard."

"What you said on Earth Garrus, it meant a lot to me. I've never had a better friend in my life," replied Shepard, the pride clearly audible in his voice, "There's no way that I could have done it without you at my back."

"I never would have pinned you for the emotional type Shepard."

A laugh erupted between the two friends.

"Enjoy it while it lasts Garrus, I can only deal with your face for so long."

"It's been a hell of a ride Shepard."

"That it has Garrus," replied Shepard, the relief heard strongly in his voice, "that it has."

Tali simply sat there next to Dominic, holding his hand and listening to the two friends talk to each other. A smile had formed behind her mask as she listened to them speak; she loved hearing the banter between them, but most of all she just loved how they spoke to each other. Their friendship had been forged in the same way as hers had been with Dominic, through fire and blood, and they shared a deep bond that would never be broken. Just hearing Dominic talk freely with nothing weighing down on his voice anymore made her heart flutter, he was truly hers now, there was nothing holding him back any more. A sudden wave of sadness swept over Tali's face as she remembered the sight of Earth from looking out the side window of the Normandy. It was one thing to see the destruction first-hand on foot as they fought through the streets of London, but it was another thing to see the scale of destruction caused by the Reapers from the Normandy. A pang of guilt hit her as she realised that her home world, Rannoch, was relatively untouched by the Reapers, whilst Earth had taken the full brunt of a Reaper invasion.

Her thoughts then started to drift towards Rannoch. Dominic had absolutely stunned her by his determination to help her people and retake her home world. She knew that Dominic was stubborn when he put his mind towards something, but keelah… he was able to unite the Geth and Qaurians as well as taking down a Reaper by himself! The smile found its way back onto her face at the thought of Admiral Han'Gerrel trying to come to terms with the fact that the Geth actually wanted to help the Qaurians. The thought made her giggle. Her thoughts then drifted towards her other friends and family. She wanted to see Auntie Raan again and to show off Dominic to her. A wave of sadness swept over her as she remembered Kal'Reegar. He was also so dutiful and stoic. Dominic had told her that he had received an email from Primarch Victus saying that Kal'Reegar had led a squad of Qaurians in defending valuable Taurian war assets, dying in the process. She knew that it was an end that he would have seen fitting. She was proud of him. Then her thoughts drifted towards her father, Rael. How she wished that he could see how far she had come. If only he had lived long enough to take a step on Rannoch… She shook her head. Such things should remain in the past; she had her future… their future, she corrected, to look forward to now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, sorry it took so long for me to get chapter 3 out, but I've been really busy with uni stuff lately.**

**But anyways, here is chapter 3, I hope that you guys enjoy it! Please behind any feedback, it is greatly appreciated!**

**Chapter Three  
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_*ONE WEEK LATER*_

Shepard sighed as he stumbled forward, distributing his weight to his hand as he placed it against the wall. His Cerberus implants during his reconstruction had sped up the recovery process significantly, which had baffled the medical staff tasked with taking care of him. But despite his speedy recovery, he was not left without scars. He refused to be tormented by them though, seeing them more as a permanent reminder of his victory against the Reapers rather than scars. His left leg had been badly damaged during the explosion on the Citadel when he had made the decision to destroy the Reapers and even though he had the best treatment the Alliance could offer, he had been left with a mild limp. He shook his head, moving onto more positive thoughts. It felt great to be walking again, albeit with a limp. The time he had spent in that bed had been grueling both physically and mentally, but the presence of Tali had greatly eased that. She had been with him the entire time he was confined to that bed, refusing to leave his side until he had recovered sufficiently enough to be able to walk on his own.

_Damn that girl can be stubborn sometimes. Hah, I think I'm starting to rub off on her. _

Despite her stubbornness in her refusal to leave his side during his recovery, he was genuinely pleased that she had chosen to remain by his side. He had also been pleased when Garrus had visited him. That night had been particularly special as he laid in his bed, talking to his two closest friends, the two friends who had been by his side since the beginning. When he had asked after the rest of the Normandy's crew, Garrus had replied by saying that they were all occupied at the moment, but they were all healthy and mainly, they were all alive. He had been audibly relieved by the news, although he was disappointed that he couldn't see them straight away, he knew that he would be able to catch up with them later on.

_That is gonna be one hell of a party._

He finally snapped out of his trance and turned his mind back to the task at hand. As soon as Hackett had been informed that Shepard had recovered, he had told him that he was to appear before the council to take part in discussion regarding the future of the universe. While dealing with the council was so far down the list of Shepard's priorities, he knew that it was required of him and that there was no real way of him avoiding it. This meeting was inevitable. He grimaced at the thought of having to listen to their stupidity once again. Whilst he was obligated to entertain Hackett's wishes, it didn't mean that he had to like it.

Shepard took his hand off the wall and exited the door way of the hospital, walking out into the streets of London. He breathed in deeply, taking in Earth's air. The air filled his lungs and for once he felt… truly free. The streets were teaming with activity. Shepard noticed that there was still a strong military presence about, but he concluded that it was pretty much a given that this would occur as people still held paranoia about lingering Reaper forces. Even though there was a strong military presence, the streets were still teaming with civilians of all races; humans, Asari, Taurians, Krogan, Solarians, even Quarians.

Shepard gazed upon the scene from where he stood outside the hospital, his eyes taking in the surroundings around him. A group of Taurian soldiers helping a squad of Alliance marines clear rubble from a fallen building, two Quarians repairing a power outlet as a human engineer admired their work, a Krogan warrior grasping the wrist of a Salarian commando in a gesture of friendship with the Salarian returning the gesture, human children playing with children from assorted races. All these things were symbols of hope. A hope that now could finally be fulfilled.

_They fought together. They bled together. They died for each other. Friendship forged in fire and blood._

Shepard snapped out of his thoughtful gaze as a military car pulled up next to him and a marine stepped out of the driver's seat, quickly running around to open up the passenger door closet to Shepard. He stood to attention once it was opened and saluted Shepard.

"I'm here to take you to the embassy Commander," said the marine, "I'm sorry to be direct Commander, but you are expected very soon."

Shepard nodded his understanding to the marine and climbed into the back of the car. The last thing he saw before the door closed behind him was a human child being led to a man and woman by a marine, tears of joy streaming down the woman's face as the child noticed them and started running towards them.

_Hope. _

* * *

><p>"Commander," the council welcomed him in unison.<p>

_Now to deal with these fucking idiots again._

The Taurian councilor spoke up first. After the events on Thessia had become public in that the Asari had been hiding Prothean technology for their own gain, the Asari had lost a large portion of their credibility towards the other galactic races.

"Commander Shepard," he began, "I know that we have had our differences in the past and that we never truly believed in the Reaper threat, or you for that matter. But despite our past, we now have a chance to move forwards. You are the reason that we all stand here today, you are the reason why our children can live without fear. You are the one who stood before impossible odds and laughed in its face. Shepard, I know that it may seem a small thing to you, but we offer our thanks. We offer the thanks of our people. I am sorry… we are sorry that we didn't listen to you before," finished the Taurian councilor.

"You are not only a hero to humanity Commander; you are a hero to every race that you stood for against the Reapers. You stood for all organic life, you fought for them, you fought for the Taurians, Solarians, the Asari, as well as all the other galactic races, even when we, our people's own representatives were too blind to see the reality of the situation, " continued the Solarian councilor.

"It is not often that a single man can so rapidly defuse feuds that have lasted for centuries. You single handedly ended the 300 year war between the Geth and the Quarians and returned the Quarians to their home world, you single handedly elevated a hatred embedded so deeply into the Krogan towards the Solarians and cured the genophage. But most of all, it is not often that you see the whole galaxy united together under one banner by a single man," praised the Asari councilor, "You have truly done the impossible Shepard. We are eternally in your debt."

Shepard took a moment to take in everything the councilors had just said. He knew that they were going to speak about the future but he had been totally unprepared for this. He was quite surprised by the genuine sincerity he could hear in their voices as they poured their praises and thanks over him. In spite of the misunderstandings and anger between the council and himself, their words touched him.

"I… I thank you for the kind words councilors," replied Shepard, "But I was just doing my duty, my duty to the universe, my duty as a soldier. I stood against the Reapers for the people that I loved."

"You are too modest Shepard," said Hackett as he stepped forward on the podium, a small smile on his lips, "You have been working above your pay-grade for quite some time now Shepard, none of us asked for this, but you put your head down and got it done. I thank you Shepard, you have more than earned a rest."

"What do you mean a rest?" interjected the Asari councilor, "Shepard, we know that you have done so much for us all, but the universe needs you now more than ever. You are a symbol of peace and hope and the people look to you as a hero, as their savior in their time of greatest need. We still have need of you Shepard, we want you to not only represent humanity on the council, but to lead the council. It is only fitting that the man who secured our future leads us into our future."

The Taurian and Solarian councilors murmured their agreement.

"Shepard," started Hackett, "I understand fully your position, I want you to know that I support any decision you make," he finished.

Shepard sighed heavily. He looked around the embassy chamber, taking in his surroundings. Representatives, both major and minor, of all the galactic races were present. Taurians, Solarians, Asari, Krogan, Hanar, Quarian, Drell as well as the other races who fought against the Reapers. They were all here. He knew that something like this would be asked of him here, but he had already made up his mind when he saw Tali for the first time after waking up in the hospital bed.

"I refuse your offer councilors."

A murmur swept through the crowd within the embassy and the councilors seemed taken aback by what they had just heard.

"Shepard, we urge you to reconsider!" said the Solarian councilor; dismay clearly heard in his voice, "Please think about the implications, think about what we are offering you!"

"My decision is final," decreed Shepard, a sigh escaping his lips, "I have been a soldier my entire life, I have followed orders and fought for others, as well as having people follow me and fight for me for as long as I can remember. When I discovered the Reapers, I devoted my life to stopping them. I have been fighting for so long, running from place to place to solve problems. Now that the Reapers are gone for good… I… I now finally have a life of my own."

Shepard took a moment to look around the embassy once more before he continued.

"I'm tired of being a soldier. I'm… I'm just so damn tired. A close friend of mine told me that it had been a long time since he had simply… just sat down. It's been too long since I've just sat down. I want to just sit down and watch things go by for once, not have to keep up all the time. I'm tired of being a soldier; I'm damn tired of being a hero."

There was a long pause before Shepard began speaking again. No one in the embassy chamber dared to speak as Shepard poured out pure emotion, finally letting his feelings out for all to see.

"I have seen too much death and destruction. Too many of my friends have fallen during this damned war. Friends that I will never get back, much like mothers who will never get their child back, fathers who will never see their children grow into adulthood, children that will never know their parents. All because of this damned war."

Shepard sighed, taking in a huge intake of air, only to exhale heavily.

"I have finally found love that has filled a void in my heart that I never thought could be filled again after the death of my own parents when I was a child on Earth. I have friends who I proudly call brothers and sisters, friends who have been through hell and back with me more than a few times. I just want to sit down and cherish what I have left."

Tears glistened in the sun's rays as they ran down Shepard's face.

"I'm sorry councilors, but my story… Shepard's story has finished. It's time for someone else to take up the burden that I leave behind. It's time for someone else to write a story. Shepard's story is done; the hero is no longer needed."

The tears now flowed freely from Shepard's eyes.

"This old soldier just wants to sit down."


End file.
